Partition wall

ABSTRACT

There is provided a partition wall which is characterized in that studs are secured to upper and lower runners fitted to a substrate in a zigzag arrangement or as common studs; that basic face materials are fitted to the skeleton through sound insulation materials so that the face materials are arranged, in parallel, on both outer sides of the studs, while the studs are internally positioned; and that a hard gypsum sheet comprising fibers dispersed in the gypsum core thereof is arranged on the corresponding outer side of each basic face material. This partition wall is particularly suitable for use as a dry party wall, has satisfactory characteristic properties such as fire protecting properties, sound insulation properties, deformation-follow-up properties, out-of-plane flexural rigidity and hardness. The wall comprises gypsum based construction materials as the top end boards and thus the weight and wall thickness thereof can be reduced.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a partition wall whose top end board isa hard gypsum sheet as a gypsum based construction material and, inparticular, to a dry party wall structure.

2. Discussion of the Background

A gypsum board as a representative of the gypsum based constructionmaterial has been used in a variety of applications. The gypsum board isin general a plate-like member comprising a gypsum core which isprepared by kneading hemi-hydrate plaster and water and hardening themixture and which is covered with base paper, and excellent in, forinstance, fire protecting performance, sound insulation properties,installation properties and cost performance. Therefore, it has widelybeen used as an interior material for buildings. More specifically, ithas widely been used as a partition wall, in particular, a dry partywall for high-rise buildings and super high-rise buildings which haverecently been popularized rapidly and it has been proved to be excellentin, for instance, aptitude for construction processes, light-weightproperties and vibration-follow-up properties.

The dry party wall may separately be set up after the substrate worksand during the interior finish works and can be divided into thosehaving a stud structure which are fitted to, for instance, light-weightsteel frames (upper and lower runners) secured to the substrate andthose having a non-stud structure free of such steel frames. In anycase, either of them is completed by locating basic face materials suchas reinforced gypsum boards, extrusion molded plates of gypsum andcalcium silcate plates, on both sides of each corresponding frame of asubstrate, in such a manner that a material having sound insulationproperties such as glass wool lies between the face materials; fixingthe face materials to the frame by the use of, for instance, tappingscrews to form a wall; and then covering the both outer faces of thewalls with top end boards through the aid of a paste or optionallysimultaneous use of staples, nails or screws.

Such a dry party wall not only serves to separate from a neighboringhouse, but also has such roles that it can ensure a living environmentguaranteeing a comfortable life and that it can protect life andproperty from disasters (such as a fire). Accordingly, it should satisfyvarious requirements such as fire protecting properties, soundinsulation properties, deformation-follow-up properties, out-of-planeflexural rigidity and hardness. In addition to these requiredcharacteristic properties, there has been desired for the redution ofthe wall thickness and the weight of the dry party wall in order toincrease the habitable area as multi-storied and super multi-storiedbuildings have been popularized.

For this reason, the dry party wall which makes use of a usual gypsumboard (having a specific gravity ranging from 0.65 to 0.9) as the topend board is still insufficient in hardness and should further bereduced in the thickness and weight thereof. Accordingly, there has beendesired for the development of a partition wall, in particular, a dryparty wall structure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a partitionwall, in particular, a dry party wall in which a gypsum basedconstruction material is used as the top end board, which is sufficientin, for instance, fire protecting properties, sound insulationproperties, deformation-follow-up properties, out-of-plane flexuralrigidity and hardness, which is light weight and whose wall has areduced thickness.

The present invention has been completed on the basis of the findingthat the foregoing problems can effectively be solved by the use of hardgypsum sheets each of which comprises fibers dispersed within a gypsumcore thereof, as top end boards for a partition wall, in particular, adry party wall.

More specifically, the present invention provides a partition wallcharacterized in that studs are secured to upper and lower runnersfitted to a substrate in a zigzag arrangement or as common studs; thatbasic face materials are fitted to the substrate through soundinsulation materials in such a manner that the face materials arearranged, in parallel, on both outer sides of the studs, while the studsare internally positioned; and that each hard gypsum sheet comprisingfibers dispersed in the gypsum core thereof is arranged on thecorresponding outer side of each basic face material.

The present invention further provides a partition wall characterized inthat basic face materials are fitted to both sides of upper and lowerrunners fitted to a substrate through sound insulation materials in sucha manner that the basic face materials face one another in a parallelrelation; and that each hard gypsum sheet comprising fibers dispersed inthe gypsum core thereof is arranged on the corresponding outer side ofeach basic face material.

Further, the present invention provides a partition wall characterizedin that studs are secured to upper and lower runners fitted to asubstrate in a zigzag arrangement or as common studs; and that hardgypsum sheets each comprising fibers dispersed in the gypsum corethereof are arranged, in parallel, on both outer sides of the studswhile the studs are internally positioned.

In addition, the present invention also provides a partition wallcharacterized in that hard gypsum sheets each comprising fibersdispersed in the gypsum core thereof are secured to both sides of upperand lower runners fitted to a substrate through sound insulationmaterials in such a manner that the hard gypsum sheets face one anotherin a parallel relation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional view of an embodiment of the dry partywall 1 according to the present invention; and FIG. 2 is a transversecross-sectional view of the dry party wall shown in FIG. 1. In thesefigures, reference numerals 2 and 3 represent a substrate; 4 an upperrunner; 5 a lower runner; 6 and 7 studs; 8 and 9 basic face materials;10 a sound insulation material; and 11 and 12 hard gypsum sheets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The partition wall of the present invention is particularly suitable foruse as a dry party wall and therefore, the present invention willhereinafter be described with the dry party wall taken as an example.

It is preferable that the hard gypsum sheet comprising fibers dispersedin the gypsum core thereof used in the present invention comprise agypsum core in which fibers are dispersed in an amount ranging from 0.5to 5 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of hemi-hydrate plaster andbase paper which covers the gypsum core and have a specific gravityranging from 1 to 1.6. Such a hard gypsum sheet is described in thespecification of Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 6-174306, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Specifically,the hard gypsum sheet can easily be prepared by mixing and stirringhemi-hydrate plaster, 0.5 to 5 parts by weight of fibers and 30 to 65%by weight of mixing water per 100 parts by weight of the plaster to thusgive a slip and then molding the slip into a plate-like shape throughcasting it between two sheets of base paper. The fibers used herein maybe organic and inorganic fibers or mixture thereof, with thesimultaneous use of organic and inorganic fibers being particularlypreferred. Examples of inorganic fibers include rock wool, mineralfibers such as asbestos and fibers of sepiolite, glass fibers and carbonfibers. Various kinds of organic fibers may be used, but the use of pulpfibers, in particular, those obtained by beating waste paper ispreferred. In order to improve the dispersibility of these fibers in thegypsum core, it is preferred to coat the surface of the fibers withhemi-hydrate plaster by previously admixing the fibers therewith, or tofeed the fibers to a kneading machine such as a mixer for kneading themtogether with, for instance, hemi-hydrate plaster and water after asurface-treatment thereof with, for instance, polyethylene oxide whichcan impart convergence to the fibers and ensure dispersibility thereofwhen coming in contact with water. In particular, an amount of thesefibers to be added to the core desirably ranges from 1 to 2 parts byweight per 100 parts by weight of the hemi-hydrate plaster. The fibersare preferably those having a shape whose diameter ranges from 5 to 50μand whose length ranges from 3 to 12 mm from the viewpoint of thequality of the resulting product and the productivity, in particular,those having a diameter ranging from 10 to 20μ and a length ranging from3 to 6 mm. Moreover, the fibers may have net (or lattice)-likestructures. In this case, the fibers having such a net-like structuremay be positioned on the surface and/or inside of the hard gypsum sheetwhen molding the sheet.

When simultaneously using inorganic and organic fibers, the ratio(weight basis) of the former to the latter preferably ranges from 1:0.05to 1:1. Moreover, an amount of the organic fibers to be used ispreferably at highest 2.5 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of thehemi-hydrate plaster. This is because if the amount of the organicfibers exceeds the upper limit, the casting properties of the slip wouldbe impaired, which is not preferable for the productivity.

The base paper used for covering the gypsum core may be those usuallyhaving a basis weight ranging from 150 to 300 g/m² and conventionallyused for preparing gypsum boards. In particular, the use of base paperhaving high surface hardness permits the production of a hard gypsumsheet having improved surface hardness in addition to high hardness ofthe hard gypsum core per se.

The specific gravity of the hard gypsum sheet ranges from 1 to 1.6,preferably 1.1 to 1.4 and more preferably 1.2 to 1.4. If the specificgravity thereof exceeds 1.6, the hard gypsum sheet develops a harmfulcrack when nailing the gypsum sheet on a substrate and accordingly, thehard gypsum sheet cannot be secured to the substrate and the sheet perse is curved depending on the strength of the fixing means such as anail and this in turn makes the fixing of the sheet impossible. The hardgypsum sheet may comprise, for instance, an adhesive such as starchand/or a hardening accelerator conventionally used, from the viewpointof the quality of the resulting sheet and the production efficiencythereof.

The present invention will now be described with reference to theattached drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view ofan embodiment of the dry party wall according to the present inventionand FIG. 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the dry party wallshown in FIG. 1. As shown in these figures, studs 6 and 7 are secured,in a zigzag arrangement, to an upper runner 4 and a lower runner 5 whichare fitted and nailed (with, for instance, concrete nails) to substrates2 and 3, basic face materials 8 and 9 are secured, in parallel, to bothouter sides of the studs 6 and 7 through sound insulation materials 10with the use of, for instance, tapping screws while the studs 6 and 7are positioned within the wall 1 and hard gypsum sheets 11 and 12comprising fibers dispersed in the gypsum core thereof are fixed to theouter sides of the corresponding basic face materials 8 and 9 with theuse of, for instance, a staple or an adhesive. Moreover, a spacer 13 maybe arranged in a gap between the upper and lower runners 4 and 5 and thestuds 6 and 7.

In this structure, the upper and lower runners 4 and 5 may be lightweight steel frames (such as a C-shaped channel steel) or wood, whilethe studs 6, 7 may be light weight steel frames (such as a C-shapedchannel steel) or wood, having a width ranging from 45 to 100 mm and athickness ranging from 0.5 to 3.2 mm. In addition, the basic facematerials 8, 9 may be reinforced gypsum boards, extrusion-molded gypsumplates and calcium silicate plates. Moreover, the sound insulationmaterial 10 may be, for instance, glass wool and rock wool. The hardgypsum sheets 11, 12 used herein are preferably those having a thicknessranging from 9.5 to 25 mm. The thickness of the finally constructed dryparty wall may arbitrarily be selected, but preferably ranges from 120to 270 mm to effectively ensure the foregoing characteristic propertiesto be imparted to the wall and more preferably not less than 140 mm fromthe viewpoint of ensuring high sound insulation properties. The wall mayfurther be subjected to joint finishing and facing processes for thehard gypsum sheets.

Alternatively, the dry party wall of the present invention may likewisebe constructed by directly securing, through the sound insulationmaterials 10, the basic face materials 8 and 9 to the upper and lowerrunners 4 and 5 fitted to the substrates 2 and 3 without using any stud6, 7, in such a manner that the sound insulation materials 10 face oneanother in a parallel relation and fixing the hard gypsum sheets 11, 12each comprising fibers dispersed in the gypsum core thereof to the outersides of the corresponding basic face materials 8, 9 through, forinstance, an adhesive layer. Moreover, the dry party wall of the presentinvention may also be constructed in such a manner that the studs 6, 7are secured to the upper and lower runners 4, 5 fixed to the substrates2, 3 in a zigzag arrangement or as common studs and that the hard gypsumsheets 11, 12 each comprising fibers dispersed in the gypsum corethereof are directly fixed, in parallel, to the both outer sides of thestuds 6, 7 through, for instance, an adhesive layer without using anybasic face material, while the studs 6, 7 are positioned within thewall.

Furthermore, the dry party wall of the present invention may be designedto have such a simple structure that the hard gypsum sheets 11, 12 eachcomprising fibers dispersed in the gypsum core thereof are directlyfitted to the both sides of the upper and lower runners 4, 5 fixed tothe substrates 2, 3 through the sound insulation materials 10 withoutusing any basic face material, while the hard gypsum sheets face oneanother in a parallel relation.

According to the present invention, there can be provided a light weightand thin partition wall, in particular, a dry party wall which possessessatisfactory properties such as fire protecting properties, soundinsulation properties, deformation-follow-up properties, out-of-planeflexural rigidity and hardness. In addition, the dry partition wall canbe used not only as the party walls, but also as the usual partitionwalls. Moreover, it is a matter of course that the wall of the presentinvention can be used as party walls and partition walls for low-risebuildings.

The present invention will now be described with reference to thefollowing Examples.

EXAMPLE 1

A dry party wall shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 was constructed according to thefollowing procedures. First, upper and lower runners 4 and 5 were fixedto substrates 2, 3 such as ceiling slabs or floor slabs using, forinstance, concrete nails having a size of 4 mmφ×3 mm. Studs 6, 7 werethen secured to the upper and lower runners 4 and 5 in a zigzagarrangement. A basic face material 8 (a reinforced gypsum board having athickness of 21 mm and a specific density of 0.775) was fitted to oneouter side of the studs 6, 7 using screws or nails so that the studs 6,7 were positioned within the wall, sound insulation materials 10 (glasswool having a basis weight of 24/m³ and a thickness of 25 mm) wereinserted and a basic face material 9 produced from the same materialused for forming the material 8 was secured to the opposite side of thestuds 6, 7 using screws or nails, such that it is parallel with the facematerial 8. Then hard gypsum sheets 11 and 12 were fixed to both outersides of the basic face materials 8, 9 using a staple and a paste (avinyl acetate adhesive) to thus complete a dry party wall. The dry partywall thus constructed had a wall thickness of 132 mm and a surfacedensity of 65 kg/m² .

The hard gypsum sheets 11 and 12 were prepared by the following methodand had a thickness of 12.5 mm and a specific gravity of 1.3.

A slip (a gypsum slurry) was prepared by blending, in a mixer, 3.0 kg ofα-hemihydrate gypsum, 7.0 kg of β-hemihydrate gypsum, 73 liters ofmixing water, 60 g of a melamine water reducing agent and 100 g of glassfibers having a diameter of 20μ and a length of 3.3 mm, then casting theslip between two sheets of base paper (commonly used in gypsum boardshaving a basis weight of 250 g/m²), passing through molding rolls togive a hard gypsum sheet and then drying the sheet.

Comparative Example 1

A dry party wall having a wall thickness of 149 mm and a surface densityof 65 kg/m² was assembled by repeating the same procedures used inExample 1 except that reinforced gypsum boards each having a thicknessof 21 mm and a specific gravity of 0.775 were substituted for the hardgypsum sheets 11 and 12.

Characteristic properties of the dry party walls produced in Example 1and Comparative Example 1 were evaluated according to the followingmethods.

Test Methods

Test of Fire Protecting Properties: This test was carried out inaccordance with the "Method of Fire Resistance Test for Structural Partsof Buildings" as specified in JIS A 1304.

Deformation-Follow-Up Properties: This was determined by giving adisplacement of 1/200 to each party wall, determining a displacement ateach measured point under the influence of the given displacement andobserving the condition of the surface thereof, according to the"Deformability Test by In-Plane Shearing of Assembled Panel forNon-Proof-Stress" as specified in JIS A 1414 6.18.

Out-Of-Plane Flexural Rigidity: This was determined by horizontallypressing each specimen under a load of 180 kg, determining thedisplacement in response to the pressing and observing the condition ofthe specimen, according to the Better Living (Foundation) InteriorSystem Testing Method: "Distributed Pressure Intensity Test".

Surface Hardness (Impact Strength): A steel ball of 1 kg was dropped oneach specimen from a fixed height of 1 m and the depth of the depressionformed on the surface thereof is determined.

Sound Insulation Properties: This was determined according to the"Method for Laboratory Measurement of Sound Transmission Loss" asspecified in JIS A 1416.

The results thus obtained are summarized in the following Table

                  TABLE 1                                                         ______________________________________                                                        Sample of the                                                                           Comparative                                                         Invention Example 1                                           ______________________________________                                        Sound Insulation Properties                                                                     TLp 57      TLp 52                                          Fire Protecting Properties                                                                      2 hours     2 hours                                         Out-Of-Plane Flexural Rigidity                                                                  180 kgf     180 kgf                                                           5 mm        7 mm                                            Hardness          0.7 mm      1.0 mm                                          Deformation-Follow-Up Properties                                                                Normal      Normal                                          ______________________________________                                    

As seen from the results listed in Table 1, the comparison of theseresults while setting the surface density at the same level and changingthe wall thickness makes it clear that the product of the presentinvention is excellent in sound insulation properties, out-of-planeflexural rigidity and hardness, as compared with the product ofComparative Example, although the wall of the former is thinner thanthat of the latter.

A dry party wall having the structure used in comparative example shouldhave a wall thickness of 157 mm and a surface density of 75.6 kg/m² inorder to achieve the same level of sound insulation properties as thoseobserved for the product of the present invention.

We claim:
 1. A partition wall comprising:a first substrate with an upperrunner; a second substrate with a lower runner; basic face materialswhich are fitted to both the upper runner and the lower runner throughsound insulation materials so that said basic face materials face oneanother in parallel relation; studs secured to the upper runner and thelower runner, said studs being located between the basic face materials;and hard gypsum sheets arranged on an outer side of each of said basicface materials, wherein said hard gypsum sheets comprise a gypsum corecontaining 0.5 to 5 parts by weight of dispersed fibers per 100 parts byweight of hemi-hydrate plaster and a base paper covering the gypsumcore, and have a specific gravity ranging from 1 to 1.6, and wherein thestuds are fitted to the basic face materials in a zigzag arrangement. 2.A partition wall comprising:an upper runner attached to a firstsubstrate; a lower runner attached to a second substrate; first andsecond basic face materials which are fitted to the upper runner and thelower runner through sound insulating materials so that the first andsecond basic face materials face one another in parallel relation; studssecured to the upper and lower runners, said studs being located betweenthe first and second basic face materials and each of said studs beingalternately attached to the first basic face material and the secondbasic face material; and first and second hard gypsum sheets arranged onan outer side of each of said first and second basic face materials,wherein each of the first and second hard gypsum sheets comprises agypsum core containing 0.5 to 5 parts by weight of dispersed fibers per100 parts by weight of hemi-hydrate plaster and a base paper coveringthe gypsum core, and has a specific gravity ranging from 1 to 1.6. 3.The partition wall as in one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the partitionwall is used as a dry party wall.